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They were all tired. In different ways, yes, but exhaustion had settled into the bones of each member of XLOV; a weight tied to their limbs.
Rui's back ached from the amount of times they had to do that kick-up in serve, even getting to the point that she could barely stand straight without a grimace crossing her face. She couldn't properly do the arch afterwards either, no matter how thoroughly they stretched before a stage.
Hyun's throat burned each time he had to speak, the high notes and louder lines taking more out of him than usual. More often than not, she'd have to take something to numb his throat a few hours before performing, and even then, she feared that her voice would crack embarrassingly in front of EVOLs.
Haru's throat burned similarly to Hyun's, and had to rely a lot on the backing track while lowering their tone for the harmony with his fellow member, also self-conscious of his voice. But they also ached all over from the extra hours spent in the practice room to get everything perfect.
Mumuti's right leg ended up getting pulled during the high kick in Extancy, which is why her and Rui only performed it once for the showcase, and once more for promotions, which had to be lipscynced, as both Rui and Wumuti had vocal strain from their high note in Serve.
Presently, they've all flopped onto the most convenient surface. For Hyun and Haru, it was the couch, for Wumuti, it was a plush chair, and for Rui, it was the cool floor.
They all let out simultaneous groans and sighs of relief, finally being able to rest now that promotions for I, God were over.
Wumuti was the first to get up, walking over to her room and washing off her makeup, though not as thorough as they would've been on another day, due to the dropping of her eyes and the numbing of her mind.
She brushed her teeth soon after, then went back to the other members to encourage them to do the same.
Hyun didn't hesitate, desperate to get into their bed and finally get more than four hours of sleep. They were more careful with removing his makeup than Wumuti, though, moving on a little slower to brush their teeth, then exiting his room to coax Rui or Haru up from their places.
Rui took some convincing, but she, too, eventually got up and washed off half of her makeup, giving up on the other half until Wumuti begrudgingly did the rest for them. After brushing her teeth, Rui, too went back to Haru.
Haru, who could barely hum a yes or no to Wumuti's questions if they're okay, let alone move her limbs. But, with some help standing up, he also went to do his nightly routine.
They all flipped down onto their separate beds, but, despite all of the dancing, Rui and Haru couldn't seem to be able to go to sleep, instead tossing and turning, much to the annoyance of their other two members.
Rui still had a lot of energy, and no amount of humming to themself, or tossing and turning, or Wumuti scolding her seemed to do any good. Rui eventually gave up and accepted that she wouldn't sleep, and settled on kicking her feet back and forth under the blanket.
Haru had the opposite problem- they were overtired, and no amount of yawning to herself or switching positions got them to sleep, no matter how tired he was. He, too, gave up, and sat up in bed, zoned out and staring at the wall.
Both Hyun and Wumuti saw that 'having trouble sleeping' was an understatement to describe their two members. Wumuti stood first, beckoning to Hyun and pointing at a pile of unused pillows and blankets in the corner of the room, which were quickly scooped up. On their leader's command, Hyun carried them to the living room while Rui and Haru watched in confusion and curiousity.
After a few minutes, and a few clothes hanging clips, a large fort was set up in the centre of their dorm's living room, and Hyun was sent to coax Rui and Haru out of their beds. They both complied, albeit a little begrudgingly as both of their beds were comfortable.
As everyone's eyes adjusted to the dim light of the candles Wumuti lit, they all crawled into the fort and arranged themselves in a comfortable position for everyone.
Hyun was the first to doze off, curled up by Rui on the left side of the fort with Wumuti on his right. Haru followed a few minutes later, huffing softly without a care in the world.
Rui was a more difficult case, and instead of letting them wake the two that had already drifted off, Wumuti made Rui lay next to her instead. It took a while, but with all of the members huddled together, Rui dozed off into a light sleep, too, followed by Wumuti shortly after; content with how the evening turned out.
